I’ve recently been one of a large number of victims to a very unfortunate bug involving the iPhone 2.2.1 software update issued earlier this month. Since I upgraded to 2.2.1, whenever I would attempt to sync anything with DRM to/from my phone (this includes ringtones, videos, movies, FairPlay music from the iTunes store and Apps(!)), iTunes would crash and the iPod app’s database would become slightly more corrupted (as in, some songs would not play, the current progress of my podcasts would be erased, etc). Thus, I’m unable to sync my podcasts (99% of my use for my phone), can’t listen to music (the other 1%), and can’t fix this problem since, importantly, restoring the phone doesn’t do a single thing to solve the problem.

Plus, it looks like I’m not alone. This thread on the Apple support forums details the struggles others have gone through in response to this bug. Unfortunately, I didn’t find this until after I had restored my phone, so now I’m stuck with an App-less iPhone that only has a partial collection of my music.

And, as you can see from the support form, this is due entirely to some problem with protected music, movies, and applications. This enfuriates me. In general, I try and buy the music I like; same for TV shows and movies (which I usually rent, but nonetheless pay for). Of course, there are exceptions, but for the most part I try and support the artists, etc, that I like.

If I had stolen all my music and videos, I wouldn’t have a single problem right now (except maybe with Apps) – but since I was honest for at least some of my library, I’m screwed. Thanks, Apple. Really. Thanks.

Have you run into this problem as well? Does anyone have other stories of DRM causing unnecessary problems? Leave a comment, or email me at neurotechnica at gmail dot com.